It is often necessary to obtain a sample of soil for the purpose of analyzing the composition and mechanical characteristics thereof or to determine the types and concentration of contaminants present in the soil. Volatile contaminants such as hydrocarbons present in the sample must be retained therein during removal of the sample from the ground so that an accurate determination of the concentrations of contaminants or pollutants present can be made. Prior known soil sampling techniques and devices are capable of removing an essentially undisturbed sample of soil from a subterranean location for the usual purpose of running compaction tests and the like in advance of a construction project or for characterizing contaminants in the soil. Such devices suffer from two disadvantages in that, first, they have no means for continuously removing soil from above the sampler as drilling progresses, and, secondly, known apparatus for taking samples is generally incapable of retaining volatile components in the sample during removal of the sample to the surface and while the sample is removed from the sampler at the surface.
It is known in the art from U.S. Pat. No. 2,779,195 Simon, to freeze a soil sample in situ so as to retain the water content thereof or to render a non-cohesive water containing sample cohesive.